Towns / Cities
All Information from the Book "North Dakota Place Names" by Douglas A Wick

Settlers were here as early as 1874 and the Great Northern Rail Road station built here in 1879 was named for the townsite owner George Norton. When a post office application was submitted December 14, 1880, postal officials rejected Norton because of possible confusion with Norton, Minnesota. The post office was established January 26, 1881 with Albert Thompson pm, who renamed it for himself and his brother, Robert. Others say the new name honored Alec Thompson, a pioneer businessman. It straddled Section 25-150-51, Allendale Township and Section 30-150-50, Walle Township, and incorporated as a village in 1923. The Zip Code is 58278, and a peak population of 785 was reported in 1980, almost triple what the count had been in 1970 as the city began to attract residents who worked in nearby Grand Forks, but preferred to live in a smaller town.

This was a rural post office established October 4, 1878 with Ole Olson Upsahl postmaster. It was located in Section 25-250-50, Walle Township, six miles east of Thompson, with mail coming from there once each week. It was named for its township, which was named by Olav N. Loiland (1842-1933) and his brothers, who were the first permanent settlers here, coming from Valle, Satesdalen, Norway. The post office closed November 15, 1902 with mail to Thompson.

Merrifield  Section 6

Walle Town Hall  Section 25

Business History

Schools

Thompson Protestant Cemetery  Section 31 Map

Saint James Cemetery  Section31

Walle Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery 

Saint Judes Catholic Cemetery

Churches

Historical, Genealogical and Ethnic Events

Photographs

Personal and Community Stories about this Area